The Doctor’s Advocate | Third Quarter 2022
From the Chairman

Reproductive Healthcare: Post-Roe Resources

Richard E. Anderson, MD, FACP, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Doctors Company and TDC Group

The mission of The Doctors Company is to advance, protect, and reward the practice of good medicine. As a physician-owned and physician-led organization, we understand the unprecedented pressure placed on clinicians by the volatile landscape of reproductive healthcare today.

In the post-Roe world, what defines good medicine seems to have changed in some cases, as medical practices that were the standard of care for more than half a century have been criminalized in parts of the country.

Some things have not changed, however. Doctors must not abandon patients requiring emergency care. Not only is a potentially catastrophic outcome more likely, to do so violates medical ethics and federal law (EMTALA) and virtually guarantees a medical malpractice suit.

Whatever the ambiguities and unintended consequences of Dobbs v. Jackson, we as a profession must not lose sight of this fundamental truth. In virtually all cases, we will defend you against allegations of malpractice. Having said that, I must make clear that criminal acts are not insurable (the reasons are obvious under normal circumstances but hard to accept when standards of care are suddenly declared criminal in some states).

We have established a medical-legal task force to work with the national specialty societies, the American Medical Association, the Medical Professional Liability Association, and others. Our dedicated medical-legal working panel will support the practice of good medicine by providing access to the best available professional information on responding to the new ambiguity of reproductive medicine and the unintended consequences to treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.

We stand steadfastly behind you.

For more information, visit our reproductive medicine resource center.

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